What we learned: Rome, Carrollton aren't slowing down

Knox Kadum takes snap for Rome.. (Photo courtesy or Rome High School Facebook page)

Credit: Stan Awtrey

Credit: Stan Awtrey

Knox Kadum takes snap for Rome.. (Photo courtesy or Rome High School Facebook page)

The offenses for No. 1 Rome and No. 4 Carrollton are in midseason form.

Rome had 430 yards of offense at the half and played the final two quarters of its 56-0 win over Drew with a running clock.

Carrollton hammered Riverdale 54-7. The Trojans have scored 105 points in their first two games. Carrollton led 42-7 at the half and substituted liberally.

No. 5 Kell, the third member of the Region 7 triumvirate, didn’t fare as well on Friday. The Longhorns dropped to 0-2 for the first time since 2009 with a 38-35 road loss to Lassiter. Kell running backs Josiah Futral rushed for 248 yards and four touchdowns and caught a pass for a touchdown in the losing effort.

Griffin keeps rolling: The No. 7 Bears (2-0) appear to have reloaded from its bushel-load off graduations. Griffin beat LaGrange 31-0 on Friday, with first-year quarterback Avious Nelson throwing three touchdown passes and running for another.

Warner Robins wins at buzzer: A 35-yard field goal from Eli Mashburn was just enough to give the No. 6 Demons a 38-35 win over Peach County. Warner Robins trailed 17-7, but came back behind quarterback Dylan Fromm and Jarius Burnette, who rushed 19 times for 135 yards.

No. 9 Starr's Mill wins again: The Panthers (2-0) beat rival Northgate 16-13, with kicker Michael Lantz making a 50-yard field goal. On the horizon is a date with Griffin on Sept. 29.

Look who's 3-0: Morrow and McIntosh have both found early season success. Morrow, which hasn't made the playoffs since 1998, and McIntosh, which hasn't made the playoffs since 2013, are both off to a 3-0 start.

Morrow beat Mt. Zion 29-15 at Tara Stadium thanks to some opportunistic defense. The Mustangs converted three turnovers into points and Tabious Clemmons scored two touchdowns. The last time Morrow started 3-0 was 1998, when it began the season 9-0.

McIntosh beat Henry County 21-6 and improve to 3-0 for the first time since 2013, when the Chiefs went 8-3 and broke a 26-year playoff drought.

Woodland’s streak over: Woodland-Cartersville ended a 17-game losing streak on Friday by beating Rockmart 31-30. Titus Jones and Zach Pitner hooked up for a two-point conversion to get the job done.

No. 10 Carver falls: The Panthers (2-1) entered the state rankings last week and will likely be exiting with a 23-20 loss to Alexander.

Knocking at the door: Arabia Mountain improved to 3-0 with a 46-6 win over Redan. The Rams have scored 135 points in three games and could be the next team to join the state rankings. But Arabia Mountain has a tough task next week with a trip to Dacula.